Stupid Guest Tricks

SnDMommy wrote:At risk of asking a question which might force me to become a SG, are there any (or were there ever) plans to expand the existing monorail to other areas/parks at WDW?

From what I understand,,the thought has been crossed,but the cost prohibitive. :(
I take it 'we' missed it. Welcome,have a beverage.

Combining the PeopleMover with something like the Minnesota Skyway would be alot of fun in an urban center, although I suppose simple moving sidewalks would be easier in that kind of setting. The PeopleMover would be a lot more fun, though! :D:

People, has The Simpsons taught us nothing? No place wants to end up like North Haverbrook. :p:

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TiggerHappy wrote:I recall seeing some sort of Discovery Channel program or whatever that said that Japan was looking into some sort of monorail

Japan has had their MagLev trains for a while. It is technically a monorail but is suspended and moves by magnetic force. It's also stupid fast. 268 mph in passenger runs. 361 mph top speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_(transport)

I can see it now. MK to EPCOT in 30 seconds.

j

TeamUBR wrote:Japan has had their MagLev trains for a while. It is technically a monorail but is suspended and moves by magnetic force. It's also stupid fast. 268 mph in passenger runs. 361 mph top speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev_(transport)

I can see it now. MK to EPCOT in 30 seconds.

j

... and Washington DC to reality in 15 years!

Seriously, imagine going from Orlando's airport to WDW via monorail! That's one thing that DL would NEVER get thanks to all of California's NIMBYs.

WWWD wrote:... and Washington DC to reality in 15 years!

Seriously, imagine going from Orlando's airport to WDW via monorail! That's one thing that DL would NEVER get thanks to all of California's NIMBYs.

The DC Metro system is an excellent way to get around the city and out to the 'burbs.

SnDMommy wrote:At risk of asking a question which might force me to become a SG, are there any (or were there ever) plans to expand the existing monorail to other areas/parks at WDW?

No, that's an excellent question. It's so good, in fact, that WDW considered it at great length about a decade ago. I was involved in some of the study.

Plans included converting the Express line and the Epcot line into one big loop. A new line would be built, starting at Downtown Disney, connecting to the existing lines at the Epcot station, then continuing on to Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and ending in a new maintenance barn west of there. The alignment would permit stations at a good number of deluxe hotel sites, some already built, some not.

Eisner declared that $1.1 billion price tag was too high, and directed a descoping. The team came back with a $900 million cost that eliminated the possibility of a couple of the deluxe resorts and had a correspondingly smaller maintenance barn. He chucked that too and said in effect, "Just buy more buses."

And yes, the team was quite devastated. Some continue to this day to argue for it, some moved on, and a few of us have been looking into a PRT approach to transportation that would eliminate buses, monorails, some watercraft, parking lot trams, most delivery trucks, and much of the interior roadways on property. So far, we haven't been able to get a hearing, nor enough data to come up with a solid cost estimate for construction. The savings in manpower, however, seem certain to make operating costs lower than at present.

If anyone has connections to a person in a position to consider it, we'll be delighted to put together a presentation.

I wish you all the luck in the world, Zazu. I would love to see an extension of the monorail or some new form of mass transportation at WDW. To me, it really is like another attraction. I appreciate the buses, but they aren't fun, per se. At least not since the spieling drivers were mostly silenced. :( If you ever feel that guest comments would be helpful if applied in a specifc direction, be sure to let us know. I would certainly write a letter for that.

Zazu wrote:If anyone has connections to a person in a position to consider it, we'll be delighted to put together a presentation.

Unfortunately, to get the hearing costs about $10,000. That's just the meeting. And that's for something much simpler than the revamping of the entire transportation system. I found that out asking about putting a marker stone in the pavement to help kids know where to stand to best measure them.

That came from one of my favorite managers I ever worked with, who had pretty much given up ever trying to change things, because he had tried and found out the hard way just how it all works.

Big Wallaby wrote:Unfortunately, to get the hearing costs about $10,000. That's just the meeting.

Note please that I did *not* describe this as an investment opportunity. :(